Greg Puciato of Dillinger Escape Plan: The MCB Interview

Greg and Dillinger pictured in 2007.

As they prepares to release perhaps their most anticipated record to date, Option Paralysis (out now), the New Jersey based Dillinger Escape Plan is definitely evoking the slogan “dare to be different.” For the better part of the past decade, Dillinger has been putting out albums that defy the usual metal archetypes and can go off in several different directions during the course of one song.

Dillinger received wild praise for their 2007 album Ire Works, but early buzz is showing that the new record could exceed that.

As my interview with lead singer Greg Puciato began, he shared his confusion of the odd and peppy hold music used while he was waiting. During the interview, we discussed the band’s new found record label freedom and how the band had rebounded from a lot of adversity early in their career. Here’s my interview with Greg:

AM: With “Option Paralysis” about to come out, what has the early reaction been from fans?
GP: I think it’s been the most anticipated album in our career, even more so than the pre-Miss Machine era. When you’re in the band, it’s kinda tough to see things objectively or from an outside the band perspective because you are so involved with it. There is lots of early fervor that we just didn’t see with the last record. I think most fans were waiting to see how the band sounded with Chris Pennie, and were pleased as it worked out.

AM: What is the feeling going into the new record, versus the feeling you had before “Ire Works”?
GP: I think this time around was the first time that the band recorded a record without inner turmoil. It seemed like every record before this one had some sort of personal drama or chaos as the band was making the album. We started to believe our own lie, thinking you have to struggle in order to make great art. While I totally agree that nothing good comes from being comfortable and content, we just didn’t need that much tension every time we put out an album. In the end, it was the easiest record we ever wrote and recorded.

AM: Do you feel the new album is more sonically diverse than the material on “Ire Works”?
GP: As far as diversity goes, we never intentionally try to be diverse on the album. I’m not sure if we have ADD or something, but the music always seem all over the place. For me personally, I think it’s a huge vocal leap for me and a willingness to go out on a limb. For this record, I think all of us stretched our personal boundaries. We’re one of those bands that if every band is doing one thing- we want to go in the complete opposite direction. We are grateful for our fans, but we never want to feel like we owe them anything. If we get into a certain sounding, they might expect something and get made when we try something else. We definitely don’t want to be pinned down.

AM: What do you feel was the easiest and most difficult aspects of running your own label?
GP: We’ve been doing this 12 years now and you learn what to do and what not to do in this industry. We are definitely not ignorant to being business savvy. With the mass disarray and chaos the music industry is in at this time, doing your own thing is the only make to secure control. When we were at our old label (Relapse Records), one thing we benefited from was a high level of control in all aspects of the band. But forming our own label was the logical progression of the evolution of the band. Probably the most difficult aspect is not having an outside manager to handle every day affairs. You have to handle every aspect on your own and it’s a lot of work and you really don’t relax. There’s much less free time but it is worth it.

AM: By playing more indie rock geared festivals, what is your overall attitude about going in and playing shows like that?
GP: (laughs) It never seems like we fit in anywhere. If we ever did an OzzFest, I am sure the people raised on just heavy metal would hate us. When we do a festival like Bonnaroo, people are naturally going to have one of three reactions within 5 seconds of seeing us: they look puzzled and they decide to walk away or they will absolutely love us or the third, which is more like a morbid curiosity, and they want to see what will happen next.

AM: The band has a reputation for busting out not so obvious cover songs- is there any plan to do this on the tour?
GP: We just did a tour of Europe and we were doing the Tears For Fears song “Head Over Heels.” We played it for the fans and for us. We were surprised because we usually think younger fans don’t go back that far into the musical past and hear songs like that, but a good portion of fans in the crowd knew it. We’ve been playing with Van Halen’s “Hot For Teacher” last year and we might bring it out again.

Dillinger Escape Plan headline at the Eagle Theater on Thursday, April 1^st. Tickets are $16 and are available at www.ticketweb.com. They also play the Warped Tour when it comes to Comerica Park on Friday, July 30^th. Additional dates and band info can be found at www.ireworks.net. The band’s new album “Option Paralysis” is out now.